During an interview with CBS This Morning, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called for the passage of his RAISE Act legislation that would end chain migration and the visa lottery and transform the existing employment-based system to a merit-based one. Sen. Cotton was brought on to discuss his reaction to Pres. Trump ending the DACA executive amnesty.
Here are some of the excerpts from the interview:
"Well first, I want to say that President Trump took the right step yesterday, President Obama’s executive order was illegal. He said he didn’t have the authority before he issued it, and he said when he did issue it that it was temporary. That said, President Trump is trying to deal with the situation in the most orderly way possible. He can’t defend that order in court. But he wants Congress to take action. And I’ve talked to him and I’ve said I’m happy to try to help forge some kind of compromise.
"If we're going to give legal status to these young people in their 20's and 30's, who are here through no fault of their own, we have to recognize that's going to have negative consequences, it’s going to open up a whole new category of people who could get legal status. Namely their parents, who violated the law by bringing them here. And it’s going to encourage other people to bring their children across the border in the future, which is a very dangerous thing to do.
"So, my legislation, the RAISE Act, would stop unlimited family chain migration, addressing the first problem, and then enhanced enforcement measures would address the second problem. That’s a straightforward and targeted package that doesn’t try to boil the ocean or solve every problem, but solves the problem right in front of us.
"Congress has tried to pass a big, sweeping immigration bill three times in the last eleven years, it’s failed every time. It’s time we take a different, incremental commonsense approach."
Watch the full interview at CBSNews.com.
